Areas of Research Interests
Dr. Rahman and his colleagues have innovated a clinical guide for clinicians with regards to the use of prolactin elevating drugs in women with established breast cancer. Prolactin is an important hormone in the pathophysiology of breast cancer and several antipsychotic drugs can increase its serum levels. This research has led to new drug alerts and recommendations. Antipsychotic drugs also have preclinical evidence of anti-tumor effects (e.g. breast cancer resistance protein inhibition and Jak/ STAT pathway inhibition). Further studies are needed to determine if antipsychotics can play a role in the treatment of cancer.

Dr. Rahman has also published articles on ethical issues in psychiatry including the use of pharmacogenomics tests in clinical practice and how they may raise unintended harms. He has also written about forcible treatment issues.

Dr. Rahman conducts forensic evaluations and has been a consultant at both the State and Federal levels on issues such as insanity, competency to stand trial, death penalty mitigation and civil cases. He has published a forensic case of infanticide involving folie a deax.

Dr. Rahman and his colleagues have recently described how extreme overvalued beliefs are different from delusions and obsessions and how extreme violence may stem from such beliefs resulting in mass casualties. He has studied mass shootings and terrorism related to this construct. He has had over 300 media placements on this topic, including a Washington Post article, "How extreme beliefs, not mental illness, may fuel mass shooters."